WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.140 Good morning, church. 00:00:03.180 --> 00:00:04.540 It's good to see you this morning. 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:06.879 Would you turn with me to Isaiah chapter 11? 00:00:08.019 --> 00:00:11.759 That's page 575 in the Pew Bible, if you'd like to follow along there. 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:15.839 We're looking this morning at Isaiah 11, verses 1 through 9. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:37.259 Let me read Isaiah 11, 1 through 9 for us. 00:00:38.579 --> 00:00:39.539 Isaiah writes this, 00:00:39.539 --> 00:00:48.019 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 00:00:48.939 --> 00:00:58.980 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.200 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. 00:01:03.060 --> 00:01:14.659 He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. 00:01:15.480 --> 00:01:20.840 And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:27.200 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:39.120 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together, and a little child shall lead them. 00:01:39.980 --> 00:01:46.400 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:54.420 The nursing child shall play over the whole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. 00:01:55.360 --> 00:01:58.920 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain. 00:02:00.600 --> 00:02:06.380 For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 00:02:06.379 --> 00:02:15.319 So how does the story end? 00:02:16.759 --> 00:02:25.620 Here we are just a few days away from Christmas, and for the past three weeks we've been looking at key Old Testament texts that light up that event for us. 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:31.879 We've seen that Jesus is the new king who establishes the new covenant and who grants us new hearts. 00:02:31.879 --> 00:02:45.379 But Christmas, you see, is actually really the middle of a much larger, great, and wonderful story that God is telling. 00:02:47.259 --> 00:02:49.519 And where exactly is it all going? 00:02:49.659 --> 00:02:51.560 How does it all end? 00:02:51.560 --> 00:02:59.099 I had a friend in high school who in English class would always jump to the end of whatever book we had been assigned, 00:02:59.479 --> 00:03:02.979 and she would always read the last chapter before we actually finished the book. 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:10.920 I know I always felt that that was sort of cheating, being sort of a natural people pleaser and rule follower. 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:12.780 I thought that, hey, you shouldn't do that. 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:18.920 After all, you should have to do the hard work of reading all 300 plus pages of Pride and Prejudice over whatever it is, 00:03:18.919 --> 00:03:23.799 before you actually find out whether Elizabeth gets with Darcy and her 10,000 pounds a year. 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:25.619 You can't just skip to the end. 00:03:25.679 --> 00:03:26.599 That doesn't seem right. 00:03:29.659 --> 00:03:36.459 But, you know, the funny thing about the Bible is that God is always telling us how the story ends. 00:03:37.739 --> 00:03:43.419 Again and again and again, he's always breaking into the present with a glimpse of his future. 00:03:43.419 --> 00:03:49.819 It would seem that God really wants his people to know where it's all going. 00:03:50.359 --> 00:03:53.679 And no matter what happens, to not forget. 00:03:56.179 --> 00:04:03.039 And the passage that we just read is just one of those places where God wants us to hear loud and clear, 00:04:03.539 --> 00:04:05.759 here's how the story ends. 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:08.219 And what do we see? 00:04:08.259 --> 00:04:12.280 What do we see just looking at this passage from Isaiah 11, 1 through 9? 00:04:12.699 --> 00:04:17.039 Isaiah's telling the people of his day that a king will come. 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:19.579 And that he will judge. 00:04:20.860 --> 00:04:22.680 And that all creation will be healed. 00:04:25.500 --> 00:04:28.159 And, you know, you see that threefold movement. 00:04:28.620 --> 00:04:29.980 Again and again in Isaiah. 00:04:30.599 --> 00:04:32.079 And even across the Old Testament. 00:04:32.219 --> 00:04:34.959 Listen to Psalm 96, 11 through 13. 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:35.620 And here it is again. 00:04:35.979 --> 00:04:38.719 Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice. 00:04:39.039 --> 00:04:40.899 Let the sea roar and all that fills it. 00:04:40.939 --> 00:04:43.060 Let the field exult and everything in it. 00:04:43.699 --> 00:04:49.299 Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord. 00:04:49.979 --> 00:04:50.939 For he comes. 00:04:51.659 --> 00:04:53.279 For he comes to judge the earth. 00:04:54.620 --> 00:04:55.479 There it is. 00:04:56.099 --> 00:04:57.299 The Lord will come. 00:04:58.479 --> 00:05:00.519 He will judge with perfect justice. 00:05:01.399 --> 00:05:04.399 And all creation will erupt in joy. 00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:11.139 Of course, we don't always connect judgment and the joy of creation in our minds. 00:05:11.259 --> 00:05:13.099 That connection seems kind of odd to us. 00:05:13.699 --> 00:05:15.939 But you see, the coming justice of God, friends. 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:18.740 That Isaiah connects with this coming king. 00:05:18.899 --> 00:05:21.959 And who we know from the perspective of the New Testament is Jesus himself. 00:05:22.019 --> 00:05:24.139 The justice that he will bring one day. 00:05:24.139 --> 00:05:29.060 Is the justice that will finally remove evil and wrong. 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:31.319 And put the world right again. 00:05:33.259 --> 00:05:36.120 God isn't going to scrap creation and start over. 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:37.719 No, he's going to make it right. 00:05:38.279 --> 00:05:40.860 And he's going to make it new once more. 00:05:40.860 --> 00:05:49.020 So do you see the utter brilliance and beauty of this true story that God's bringing to pass? 00:05:49.800 --> 00:05:57.100 That according to the Bible, what God began in creation, he's going to bring to its fulfillment in the new creation. 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:08.740 That God is taking this story to a new heavens and a new earth where everything that the fall has stolen and broken is restored and healed. 00:06:08.740 --> 00:06:18.040 And if we can catch a glimpse of that, if we can really listen to what God is telling us about how this story, about how our story ends. 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:20.379 It will do at least two things. 00:06:22.360 --> 00:06:27.460 It will give fresh shape to our living for Christ. 00:06:29.100 --> 00:06:32.439 And it will give depth to our love for Christ. 00:06:32.439 --> 00:06:35.879 It will give fresh shape to our living for Christ. 00:06:35.959 --> 00:06:42.839 Because if you know how the story is going to end, then it's going to shine a whole lot of light on how we ought to be living now. 00:06:43.879 --> 00:06:45.899 And you know that sort of intuitively, don't you? 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:52.759 Because your car ride to vacation has a totally different tenor and quality than your car ride home from vacation. 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:53.279 Right? 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:56.339 You know how that story is going to end. 00:06:56.339 --> 00:07:00.939 There's cupcakes and cookies and presents in grandma's house over the river and through the woods. 00:07:01.019 --> 00:07:01.619 Here we come. 00:07:03.359 --> 00:07:06.979 This journey ends in about 10,000 emails piled up in your inbox. 00:07:08.719 --> 00:07:10.459 And a lot of paperwork you have to do. 00:07:11.060 --> 00:07:12.599 Problems and fires you have to put out. 00:07:15.139 --> 00:07:17.559 So it gives a whole fresh shape to our living for Christ. 00:07:17.639 --> 00:07:20.639 But you know, it also gives depth to our love for Christ. 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:28.839 And particularly for us in this season of the year, it will make the event of Christmas all the more wonderful for us. 00:07:29.539 --> 00:07:33.279 It will make us see all the more how worthy he is of our trust and our affection. 00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:42.979 Because if we really want to appreciate Jesus' incarnation in all its fullness, then we have to see what his incarnation actually achieves in all its fullness. 00:07:42.980 --> 00:07:50.620 And when you can see it from the perspective of the end, oh friends, it becomes a deep and wondrous mystery. 00:07:53.120 --> 00:08:01.580 So let's spend some time this morning looking at the picture of the new creation that Isaiah gives us here in chapter 11, especially verses 6 through 9. 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:05.360 The king, Isaiah says, will bring the new creation. 00:08:05.480 --> 00:08:06.200 So what's it like? 00:08:07.220 --> 00:08:09.140 And I think we see at least four things here. 00:08:10.020 --> 00:08:11.400 And the first thing we see is this. 00:08:11.399 --> 00:08:18.139 The new creation that Jesus brings is a physical, material, bodily future. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:21.779 Look again at the imagery of verses 6 through 9. 00:08:21.959 --> 00:08:26.539 Wolves and lambs, leopards and goats, cows grazing, lions eating, children playing. 00:08:27.739 --> 00:08:30.620 Now, of course, there's a figurative element to what Isaiah is saying here. 00:08:30.659 --> 00:08:31.399 And we'll get to that. 00:08:31.459 --> 00:08:34.519 But don't miss the obvious point that's right there before our eyes. 00:08:34.519 --> 00:08:40.199 God's future will be a physical, experiential reality. 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:52.039 Why on earth use such earthy images unless to say that it is this earth that will be swept up and made beautiful in the most unimaginable ways? 00:08:52.039 --> 00:08:56.959 And of course, the new heavens and new earth will be hard to imagine, right? 00:08:57.019 --> 00:09:02.219 Probably about as hard to imagine as a wolf dwelling with a lamb or a lion eating straw like an ox. 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:06.059 There will be changes that we can't now wrap our minds around. 00:09:06.059 --> 00:09:16.919 But don't think that the future God has in store for his people and for his world is some merely spiritual thing. 00:09:18.139 --> 00:09:22.079 As if we'll all be bodiless spirits floating on ethereal clouds. 00:09:23.139 --> 00:09:24.079 Oh, no, friends. 00:09:26.019 --> 00:09:30.219 Listen to how Isaiah describes it a little later in chapter 25 of his book. 00:09:30.220 --> 00:09:33.680 There he comes back to this new creation theme and writes, 00:09:33.800 --> 00:09:38.660 The Lord of hosts will make for all people a feast of rich food. 00:09:39.160 --> 00:09:41.600 A feast of well-aged wine. 00:09:41.980 --> 00:09:46.379 Of rich food full of marrow of aged wine well refined. 00:09:48.160 --> 00:09:55.320 If Isaiah 11 has us leading and playing in verses 6 and 8, Isaiah 25 has us feasting and drinking. 00:09:55.980 --> 00:09:57.360 In the new heavens and the new earth. 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:01.980 The future that God has in store. 00:10:02.560 --> 00:10:03.940 His new creation. 00:10:04.500 --> 00:10:05.740 Will not disappoint. 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:12.539 Don't we often fall captive to the thinking that our best life is now. 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:14.840 Or at least ought to be now. 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:20.100 That we need to make the most of it before we pass our prime. 00:10:20.220 --> 00:10:22.600 I'm reading all these sort of depressing articles every now and then. 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:25.379 That sort of in your early 30s, you're hitting your prime. 00:10:25.379 --> 00:10:29.159 I read those and I think it's just like downhill from here. 00:10:29.220 --> 00:10:29.720 Here I go. 00:10:30.039 --> 00:10:30.679 Here I come. 00:10:32.419 --> 00:10:33.519 Happy days are gone. 00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:39.439 Don't we think that we need to experience everything we possibly can before it's too late? 00:10:40.939 --> 00:10:42.960 And doesn't that produce so much anxiety? 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:46.259 And on top of that anxiety, so much regret. 00:10:46.259 --> 00:10:51.759 Beth and I this past May celebrated our 10-year wedding anniversary. 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:56.919 And I was so anxious to get the details of our sort of time together just right. 00:10:57.299 --> 00:10:59.519 Because you only get one 10-year anniversary, right? 00:11:02.519 --> 00:11:09.879 But friends, what if the end of the story for those in Christ isn't what we commonly think of as heaven? 00:11:09.879 --> 00:11:14.779 That is a sort of bodiless existence about as thrilling as a high school organ recital? 00:11:16.899 --> 00:11:21.399 What if what he had in store was a new heavens and a new earth? 00:11:22.980 --> 00:11:25.480 Where there will be leading and playing. 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:28.179 Tasks to explore. 00:11:29.259 --> 00:11:30.399 Joys to be won. 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:32.740 Feasting and drinking. 00:11:32.740 --> 00:11:38.960 Wouldn't that be a liberating thing for you now? 00:11:40.779 --> 00:11:43.299 That even if you didn't get into the school of your dreams. 00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:46.940 That even if you didn't land the job of your dreams. 00:11:48.060 --> 00:11:50.539 That there's still a future in store for you. 00:11:51.700 --> 00:11:53.899 That will thrill you to your bones. 00:11:54.340 --> 00:11:57.799 And then open a horizon with even greater thrills to come. 00:11:57.799 --> 00:12:05.799 Something that would outstrip even your most audacious dreams that you dare to dream for yourself. 00:12:07.819 --> 00:12:11.939 Wouldn't that release you from the deadly anxiety that you feel? 00:12:12.719 --> 00:12:15.439 And actually free you to live with joy right now. 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:17.740 You know, it may seem a bit paradoxical, but I think it's true. 00:12:18.139 --> 00:12:23.299 That only if there's a greater joy to come can you ever really know joy in the present. 00:12:23.299 --> 00:12:30.359 Because if you know that the future that's held out for you is not one of joy, 00:12:30.519 --> 00:12:35.879 how can it not just color your present with a cloud of anxiety and despair? 00:12:38.359 --> 00:12:42.159 You see friends, the sea route of joy isn't living like you're dying or dancing till the world ends, 00:12:42.199 --> 00:12:45.759 but realizing that the king is bringing the new creation. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:54.960 A new creation that is bodily, physical, experiential in a degree that we can only now begin to fathom. 00:12:58.539 --> 00:13:02.399 So that's the first thing Isaiah wants us to see, that this new creation is a physical future. 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:09.139 But second, he wants us to see that this new creation is a future without enmity and without strife. 00:13:09.139 --> 00:13:15.159 The animals in verses 6 and 7 are all natural enemies, aren't they? 00:13:15.240 --> 00:13:19.299 Predators and prey, hunter and hunted, strong and weak. 00:13:20.100 --> 00:13:23.679 And of course Isaiah is using these images to point to an even bigger reality. 00:13:24.379 --> 00:13:28.360 That in the new creation, all the enmities that rip our world apart, 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:33.419 all the strife that causes creation to groan will be healed. 00:13:33.419 --> 00:13:40.479 Hostility will be replaced with hospitality. 00:13:42.699 --> 00:13:46.379 That's what the word dwell in verse 6 really means. 00:13:47.099 --> 00:13:48.659 To welcome a sojourner. 00:13:49.240 --> 00:13:50.259 To bring them in. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:56.439 And the images of eating together in verse 7, don't they pretty much express the same thing? 00:13:56.539 --> 00:14:02.039 There they are, enemies now sitting at table, eating together in peace. 00:14:03.419 --> 00:14:10.000 In Revelation 22 that Elizabeth read for us earlier, John writes of the healing of the nations. 00:14:11.079 --> 00:14:13.240 And the new heavens and the new earth. 00:14:14.919 --> 00:14:18.379 Now that is where God is taking creation. 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:21.379 A future free of enmity and strife. 00:14:21.699 --> 00:14:29.199 A future full of reconciliation, a peace where hostility is being replaced and has been replaced by hospitality. 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:36.940 Doesn't it make sense that the church should be living in advance of that great day? 00:14:38.120 --> 00:14:46.000 Ought we not to be a people who are deeply concerned about reconciliation now? 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:49.660 If that's indeed the grain of the universe, friends. 00:14:49.860 --> 00:14:51.900 That is where God is taking us. 00:14:51.899 --> 00:14:55.500 Why not live that way now? 00:14:56.459 --> 00:14:58.299 In advance of that great day? 00:15:00.919 --> 00:15:06.579 Ought not the church be the place where hospitality is extended to one another? 00:15:06.980 --> 00:15:09.720 Even if we have very little in common. 00:15:10.899 --> 00:15:15.340 Even if before coming to know Christ, we may have been natural enemies. 00:15:15.340 --> 00:15:19.220 Yankees and Red Sox fans, here they are. 00:15:19.639 --> 00:15:20.780 Gathering around table. 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:27.040 But it gets more serious than that, doesn't it? 00:15:27.220 --> 00:15:32.139 In light of a passage like this, it's hard not to think about the racial tensions that have gripped our country. 00:15:32.220 --> 00:15:35.019 Not just in the past months, but over our entire history, it seems. 00:15:35.019 --> 00:15:42.919 And Isaiah is telling us that God's future is one where such divisions will be healed. 00:15:43.539 --> 00:15:47.019 Not by looking the other way, but will be healed with perfect justice. 00:15:48.899 --> 00:15:54.120 And that gives us much hope in the midst of these trying times. 00:15:54.120 --> 00:16:03.179 But it also means that the church, here and now, as a people living in light of the new creation in Christ, 00:16:03.259 --> 00:16:10.919 should be a place where the world can get a glimpse, even if an imperfect one, of that coming day. 00:16:12.560 --> 00:16:14.080 In Ephesians 2, Paul says, 00:16:14.220 --> 00:16:20.279 We've been reconciled to God through the cross, and therefore reconciled to one another through the cross. 00:16:20.279 --> 00:16:28.240 And as we practice that cross-shaped life together, extending hospitality, where there was once hostility, 00:16:28.500 --> 00:16:31.860 we become a glimpse of God's new creation to come. 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:40.120 That the world will start to see in us where God's plan is headed. 00:16:41.480 --> 00:16:45.439 And they'll be shown that there's a whole new way to be human. 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:49.939 There's a whole new way to be alive. 00:16:51.100 --> 00:16:54.519 Right here, in the church of Jesus Christ. 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:00.039 Of course, reconciliation is hard work. 00:17:01.319 --> 00:17:05.460 Loving each other, especially when we're different from one another, is hard work. 00:17:07.180 --> 00:17:12.139 God's vision for the church to be a people who know unity in and through diversity is not easy, 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:14.319 given our natural selfishness. 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:21.799 But friends, doesn't it thrill you to think that by God's spirit at work in us, 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:23.519 when we do this work, 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:26.720 it's a signpost of what's to come. 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:31.400 It's a demonstration of God's new creation in the midst of the old. 00:17:31.400 --> 00:17:39.480 And in many ways, that sort of thinking should begin to color more and more everything we do. 00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:45.860 If in Christ we are a new creation, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, 00:17:46.539 --> 00:17:54.720 then we should be asking how every aspect of our lives can be signs and emblems of that great fact. 00:17:54.720 --> 00:18:01.059 How can everything we do be a foretaste of what God has in store? 00:18:01.059 --> 00:18:05.559 Our life together as a church will be part of that. 00:18:06.220 --> 00:18:07.940 So will our lives at work. 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:15.359 As we seek to love our neighbors and do things that are full of beauty and justice and love and truth. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:24.500 Our lives at home will be rich with that reality of wanting to be a beacon of creation healed. 00:18:27.439 --> 00:18:31.399 Friends, the King is bringing the new creation, a future without enmity and without strife. 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:33.619 A future where there will be lasting peace and order. 00:18:33.719 --> 00:18:37.559 And insofar as our lives embody these things in response to God's grace, 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:42.519 we're a sign of it in the present for the world to see. 00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:47.599 But Isaiah has even more to tell us about what's in store. 00:18:48.039 --> 00:18:53.419 It's not only a future without enmity, but third, it's a future even without death. 00:18:55.039 --> 00:19:01.199 In verse 8, Isaiah gives us the image of an infant playing over the hole of a cobra, 00:19:01.199 --> 00:19:04.459 of a toddler sticking his hand in an adder's den. 00:19:05.899 --> 00:19:09.500 Now, I don't know about you, but that seems like a very strange image. 00:19:09.500 --> 00:19:16.619 John Oswalt in his commentary on Isaiah, which is quite excellent, explains it this way. 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:18.220 He says, 00:19:18.299 --> 00:19:24.160 The contradiction of a child playing about the den of poisonous snakes can almost be felt physically. 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:31.180 One wants to snatch the child away from the presence of such sudden arbitrary death. 00:19:31.180 --> 00:19:34.200 And then he goes on and says, 00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:41.440 In what more effective way could a writer communicate his conviction that in the Messiah's day, 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:44.440 death itself will be conquered? 00:19:45.940 --> 00:19:50.700 One thinks of the New Testament's appropriation of Hosea 13 in 1 Corinthians, 00:19:50.820 --> 00:19:53.019 O death, where is thy sting? 00:19:55.259 --> 00:19:58.039 What's Isaiah getting at with this picture in verse 8? 00:19:58.039 --> 00:20:01.440 That in the new creation that Jesus brings, 00:20:02.619 --> 00:20:05.460 death itself is defanged. 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:12.399 That there will be no more fear of death, for death will be defeated once for all. 00:20:14.059 --> 00:20:15.460 In Revelation 21, we read, 00:20:15.559 --> 00:20:19.559 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. 00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:23.279 Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore. 00:20:23.460 --> 00:20:26.099 For the former things have passed away, 00:20:26.099 --> 00:20:28.139 And he who was seated on the throne said, 00:20:28.259 --> 00:20:30.299 Behold, I am making all things new. 00:20:33.079 --> 00:20:34.059 Reflecting on these truths, 00:20:34.159 --> 00:20:36.579 the early 17th century pastor and poet John Donne wrote, 00:20:37.399 --> 00:20:39.379 Death, be not proud, 00:20:40.839 --> 00:20:42.919 though some have called thee mighty and dreadful, 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:44.319 for thou art not so. 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:48.980 For those whom thou thinkest thou dost overthrow, 00:20:49.159 --> 00:20:50.319 die not, poor death, 00:20:51.719 --> 00:20:53.319 nor yet canest thou kill me. 00:20:53.319 --> 00:20:56.839 One short sleep past, 00:20:57.559 --> 00:20:58.619 we wake eternally, 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:01.019 and death shall be no more. 00:21:02.019 --> 00:21:04.319 Death, thou shalt die. 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:08.179 Friends, the Christian hope is just that. 00:21:09.579 --> 00:21:12.000 That death itself lives on borrowed time, 00:21:12.399 --> 00:21:14.799 and is headed for the grave. 00:21:15.899 --> 00:21:20.579 The one great reality that we think none of us will shake or escape, 00:21:20.579 --> 00:21:22.720 is itself not the last word. 00:21:24.119 --> 00:21:27.699 That the power and mercy and grace of God 00:21:27.699 --> 00:21:29.919 has and will overcome 00:21:29.919 --> 00:21:32.279 the last enemy, Paul says, 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:33.439 death itself. 00:21:34.379 --> 00:21:35.919 When the king returns, 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:37.759 our bodies will be raised, 00:21:38.220 --> 00:21:39.779 and death will be no more. 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:44.419 And if that's where the story's headed, 00:21:45.619 --> 00:21:48.259 it too shapes how we live in the present. 00:21:48.259 --> 00:21:49.259 Does it not? 00:21:50.099 --> 00:21:52.420 The Apostle Paul wrote to the young church in Thessalonica 00:21:52.420 --> 00:21:53.779 when some of their members had died, 00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:55.519 we don't grieve as others do, 00:21:56.019 --> 00:21:57.099 who have no hope. 00:21:58.220 --> 00:21:59.220 Acknowledging there, of course, 00:21:59.299 --> 00:22:00.819 that we should grieve, 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:02.160 and we do grieve, 00:22:03.160 --> 00:22:04.680 but not as those 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:06.440 who have no hope. 00:22:08.180 --> 00:22:09.559 Our grief is surrounded 00:22:09.559 --> 00:22:11.500 in a deeper reality 00:22:11.500 --> 00:22:13.920 that death is not the last word, 00:22:13.980 --> 00:22:15.799 that Christ has conquered sin and death, 00:22:15.799 --> 00:22:18.019 and in new creation we shall rise 00:22:18.019 --> 00:22:19.519 never to die again, 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:22.599 never to be separated again, 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:25.759 never to know loss or sorrow again. 00:22:29.639 --> 00:22:31.460 One short sleep past, 00:22:32.059 --> 00:22:33.379 we wake eternally, 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:35.460 and death shall be no more. 00:22:36.399 --> 00:22:36.879 Death, 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:38.639 thou shalt die. 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:41.920 The new creation will be a future 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:43.340 without strife 00:22:43.340 --> 00:22:45.240 and without death. 00:22:48.280 --> 00:22:48.980 But fourth, 00:22:49.040 --> 00:22:50.440 the new creation will be a future 00:22:50.440 --> 00:22:51.900 without ignorance. 00:22:54.100 --> 00:22:55.600 Look again at verse 9. 00:22:56.980 --> 00:22:58.580 They shall not hurt or destroy 00:22:58.580 --> 00:23:00.000 in all my holy mountain, 00:23:00.660 --> 00:23:01.980 for the earth will be full 00:23:01.980 --> 00:23:03.300 of the knowledge of the Lord 00:23:03.300 --> 00:23:05.600 as the waters cover the sea. 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:09.419 What is our greatest problem 00:23:09.419 --> 00:23:11.480 that God's redemptive history 00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:12.500 is going to solve? 00:23:13.679 --> 00:23:16.359 What's the deepest ravage of sin 00:23:16.359 --> 00:23:18.039 that God's story 00:23:18.039 --> 00:23:19.679 will restore in the end? 00:23:21.559 --> 00:23:23.139 You see, the greatest problem 00:23:23.139 --> 00:23:25.519 and the deepest loss 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:28.899 is that we no longer 00:23:28.899 --> 00:23:31.159 know the Lord. 00:23:31.160 --> 00:23:35.140 We no longer know the Lord 00:23:35.140 --> 00:23:36.560 in the experiential, 00:23:37.019 --> 00:23:38.120 personal way 00:23:38.120 --> 00:23:40.160 for which He created us. 00:23:41.100 --> 00:23:43.500 It is this deathly ignorance 00:23:43.500 --> 00:23:45.600 that is our greatest loss. 00:23:47.360 --> 00:23:48.940 To be without God 00:23:48.940 --> 00:23:49.880 in the world, 00:23:50.680 --> 00:23:51.900 to know Him, 00:23:52.500 --> 00:23:53.700 it seems not at all. 00:23:56.540 --> 00:23:57.840 Think of how lovers 00:23:57.840 --> 00:23:58.960 often talk 00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:00.019 when they lose 00:24:00.019 --> 00:24:00.840 their beloved. 00:24:02.240 --> 00:24:03.880 Nothing tastes anymore. 00:24:04.819 --> 00:24:05.980 Music is dull. 00:24:06.660 --> 00:24:07.720 Laughter is hollow. 00:24:08.460 --> 00:24:09.759 Life seems thin. 00:24:12.380 --> 00:24:13.039 Don't you see, friends, 00:24:13.120 --> 00:24:14.079 this is the condition 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:15.079 of humanity 00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:16.980 separated from God. 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:19.299 We were meant 00:24:19.299 --> 00:24:20.160 to know Him 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:22.740 and to commune with Him 00:24:22.740 --> 00:24:25.160 and in communion with Him 00:24:25.160 --> 00:24:26.759 to experience delight 00:24:26.759 --> 00:24:28.160 in all His gifts 00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:29.240 that He's given us 00:24:29.240 --> 00:24:30.180 in the created order. 00:24:32.579 --> 00:24:33.980 But the double tragedy 00:24:33.980 --> 00:24:34.480 of sin 00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:35.279 is that we're not only 00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:36.819 cut off from knowing God, 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:38.299 but we don't even realize 00:24:38.299 --> 00:24:39.259 what we've lost. 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:41.599 It's a double ignorance. 00:24:44.879 --> 00:24:46.299 And yet there's coming a day 00:24:46.299 --> 00:24:48.759 when the earth will be full 00:24:48.759 --> 00:24:52.519 of the knowledge of the Lord 00:24:52.519 --> 00:24:54.980 as the waters cover the sea. 00:24:56.339 --> 00:24:57.500 That our ignorance 00:24:57.500 --> 00:24:58.639 will be washed away 00:24:58.639 --> 00:25:01.319 and not a single inch 00:25:01.319 --> 00:25:02.480 of creation 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:03.759 will be without 00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:04.440 the intimate 00:25:04.440 --> 00:25:06.059 and awe-filled 00:25:06.059 --> 00:25:07.879 knowledge of God 00:25:07.879 --> 00:25:09.240 for which we were made. 00:25:09.900 --> 00:25:11.079 The earth 00:25:11.079 --> 00:25:12.579 will be full. 00:25:15.460 --> 00:25:16.220 And friends, 00:25:16.299 --> 00:25:16.720 that knowledge 00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:17.940 will never grow old. 00:25:18.879 --> 00:25:19.559 Further up 00:25:19.559 --> 00:25:21.059 and further in 00:25:21.059 --> 00:25:21.740 we will go 00:25:21.740 --> 00:25:23.539 into the infinite depths 00:25:23.539 --> 00:25:24.899 of who God is. 00:25:28.139 --> 00:25:29.519 Isn't it so stunning 00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:30.679 in Revelation 22 00:25:30.679 --> 00:25:32.259 when John reaches 00:25:32.259 --> 00:25:32.960 the climax 00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:35.399 of his whole exposition, 00:25:35.500 --> 00:25:36.339 of his whole book, 00:25:36.599 --> 00:25:37.119 when he reaches 00:25:37.119 --> 00:25:37.700 the climax 00:25:37.700 --> 00:25:38.639 of the whole Bible, 00:25:39.480 --> 00:25:40.559 in such a short phrase 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:41.359 he just says, 00:25:41.659 --> 00:25:43.399 they will see His face. 00:25:45.919 --> 00:25:46.359 Friends, 00:25:46.399 --> 00:25:46.980 there it is. 00:25:48.980 --> 00:25:49.859 And in that moment 00:25:49.859 --> 00:25:50.419 we'll find that 00:25:50.420 --> 00:25:51.000 all our life 00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:51.560 in this world 00:25:51.560 --> 00:25:52.480 and all our adventures 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:53.580 had only been the cover 00:25:53.580 --> 00:25:55.200 and the title page. 00:25:55.900 --> 00:25:56.860 As Lewis writes 00:25:56.860 --> 00:25:57.600 in The Last Battle, 00:25:58.220 --> 00:25:58.980 now at last 00:25:58.980 --> 00:25:59.680 they were beginning 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:00.400 chapter one 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:01.320 of the great story 00:26:01.320 --> 00:26:02.720 which no one on earth 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:03.240 has read, 00:26:03.900 --> 00:26:04.980 which goes on forever, 00:26:05.820 --> 00:26:06.700 in which every chapter 00:26:06.700 --> 00:26:08.019 is better than the one before. 00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:10.980 Or as Revelation 22 00:26:10.980 --> 00:26:11.800 5 puts it, 00:26:12.500 --> 00:26:13.580 and they will reign 00:26:13.580 --> 00:26:15.240 forever and ever. 00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:17.680 Friends, 00:26:17.740 --> 00:26:18.220 don't you see, 00:26:18.220 --> 00:26:19.940 if life in the new heaven 00:26:19.940 --> 00:26:20.420 and the new earth 00:26:20.420 --> 00:26:21.200 will be full 00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:22.180 of the knowledge 00:26:22.180 --> 00:26:22.680 of the Lord 00:26:22.680 --> 00:26:23.720 as the waters 00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:24.420 cover the sea, 00:26:25.420 --> 00:26:26.259 if the knowledge 00:26:26.259 --> 00:26:26.799 of God 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:28.360 will be the crowning feature 00:26:28.360 --> 00:26:30.079 and the infinite delight 00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:31.200 of God's perfectly 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:32.460 restored world, 00:26:34.059 --> 00:26:35.779 then any act 00:26:35.779 --> 00:26:37.100 of growing 00:26:37.100 --> 00:26:38.100 in our knowledge 00:26:38.100 --> 00:26:38.720 of the Lord 00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:39.759 now 00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:41.759 is a step 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:43.000 into the delight 00:26:43.000 --> 00:26:44.100 of the world 00:26:44.100 --> 00:26:44.819 to come. 00:26:44.819 --> 00:26:48.059 So how can you 00:26:48.059 --> 00:26:48.879 best prepare 00:26:48.879 --> 00:26:50.119 for your future? 00:26:51.799 --> 00:26:52.839 Grow in your knowledge 00:26:52.839 --> 00:26:53.359 of the Lord. 00:26:54.700 --> 00:26:55.759 How can you and I 00:26:55.759 --> 00:26:56.519 best live 00:26:56.519 --> 00:26:57.200 in light 00:26:57.200 --> 00:26:58.119 of the new creation? 00:26:59.799 --> 00:27:01.339 Grow in your knowledge 00:27:01.339 --> 00:27:02.039 of the Lord. 00:27:04.460 --> 00:27:06.000 Not just in the facts 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:06.980 that you may know 00:27:06.980 --> 00:27:07.939 about God, 00:27:08.759 --> 00:27:10.200 but in your personal 00:27:10.200 --> 00:27:11.859 acquaintance with Him. 00:27:11.859 --> 00:27:15.579 what will you do 00:27:15.579 --> 00:27:16.379 in the coming year 00:27:16.379 --> 00:27:17.639 to prepare 00:27:17.639 --> 00:27:18.759 for eternity? 00:27:20.219 --> 00:27:21.619 What good plans 00:27:21.619 --> 00:27:22.399 will you make 00:27:22.399 --> 00:27:23.779 to know God 00:27:23.779 --> 00:27:24.579 better 00:27:24.579 --> 00:27:25.979 this coming year 00:27:25.979 --> 00:27:27.379 than you've known Him 00:27:27.379 --> 00:27:28.019 the year before? 00:27:29.419 --> 00:27:30.859 Will it be a resolve 00:27:30.859 --> 00:27:32.219 to read Scripture 00:27:32.219 --> 00:27:33.079 more regularly, 00:27:33.419 --> 00:27:34.599 more reflectively, 00:27:34.859 --> 00:27:35.959 more consistently? 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:38.559 Will it be a commitment 00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:39.919 to join a small group 00:27:39.919 --> 00:27:40.379 where you can 00:27:40.380 --> 00:27:41.660 seek the Lord's face 00:27:41.660 --> 00:27:42.080 together? 00:27:43.940 --> 00:27:44.980 Will it be a decision 00:27:44.980 --> 00:27:46.480 to pray more earnestly 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:47.720 for your neighbors 00:27:47.720 --> 00:27:48.840 and friends 00:27:48.840 --> 00:27:50.400 and to pray more earnestly 00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:51.920 that Christ would be 00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:52.520 your treasure? 00:27:54.960 --> 00:27:56.160 Will it be a determination 00:27:56.160 --> 00:27:57.960 to study in depth 00:27:57.960 --> 00:27:59.200 some attribute of God 00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:00.180 or some aspect 00:28:00.180 --> 00:28:01.200 of Christ's person 00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:01.820 or work 00:28:01.820 --> 00:28:02.760 through reading 00:28:02.760 --> 00:28:03.760 good Christian books 00:28:03.760 --> 00:28:04.540 from the ages? 00:28:05.800 --> 00:28:06.020 Friends, 00:28:06.080 --> 00:28:07.000 whatever it is, 00:28:08.420 --> 00:28:09.760 do it with confidence 00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:11.920 that knowing God 00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:13.000 is what your future 00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:14.339 holds in Christ 00:28:14.339 --> 00:28:16.879 so that any genuine 00:28:16.879 --> 00:28:17.900 attempt to know Him 00:28:17.900 --> 00:28:18.559 better now 00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:21.200 is sure to succeed. 00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:23.519 That's where He's 00:28:23.519 --> 00:28:24.180 taking you 00:28:24.180 --> 00:28:26.000 and any step 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:26.819 you take now 00:28:26.819 --> 00:28:27.920 is simply putting 00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:29.259 yourself in line 00:28:29.259 --> 00:28:30.920 with the very direction 00:28:30.920 --> 00:28:32.720 of His redemptive 00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:33.579 history itself 00:28:33.579 --> 00:28:35.919 and He will not 00:28:35.919 --> 00:28:36.740 disappoint you. 00:28:39.339 --> 00:28:40.379 The King is bringing 00:28:40.379 --> 00:28:41.240 His new creation 00:28:41.240 --> 00:28:42.220 that will be a future 00:28:42.220 --> 00:28:43.399 without enmity, 00:28:43.859 --> 00:28:44.599 without death, 00:28:44.779 --> 00:28:45.980 and without ignorance. 00:28:46.779 --> 00:28:47.740 A healed world 00:28:47.740 --> 00:28:48.559 full of peace 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:49.659 and life 00:28:49.659 --> 00:28:50.819 and the knowledge 00:28:50.819 --> 00:28:51.379 of God. 00:28:51.380 --> 00:28:55.220 friends, 00:28:55.260 --> 00:28:55.520 I wonder 00:28:55.520 --> 00:28:56.040 as we've taken 00:28:56.040 --> 00:28:57.280 stock of Isaiah's 00:28:57.280 --> 00:28:57.840 picture here 00:28:57.840 --> 00:28:58.500 of the new creation 00:28:58.500 --> 00:28:59.440 how it all sounds 00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:00.020 to you. 00:29:01.400 --> 00:29:02.300 Especially if you're here 00:29:02.300 --> 00:29:03.120 and you're not a Christian, 00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:04.280 maybe the prospect 00:29:04.280 --> 00:29:05.540 of God's future 00:29:05.540 --> 00:29:06.440 sounds a lot like 00:29:06.440 --> 00:29:07.260 wishful thinking. 00:29:08.720 --> 00:29:09.620 Like a dream 00:29:09.620 --> 00:29:10.320 that won't ever 00:29:10.320 --> 00:29:11.100 come true. 00:29:13.020 --> 00:29:14.080 Could God 00:29:14.080 --> 00:29:15.420 really make 00:29:15.420 --> 00:29:16.840 all things new? 00:29:19.220 --> 00:29:19.800 Of course, 00:29:19.840 --> 00:29:20.220 that's a really 00:29:20.220 --> 00:29:20.880 good question. 00:29:21.380 --> 00:29:24.700 And you know, 00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:25.480 the best answer 00:29:25.480 --> 00:29:27.600 is that God 00:29:27.600 --> 00:29:29.240 has already 00:29:29.240 --> 00:29:30.040 shown us 00:29:30.040 --> 00:29:31.480 that He can 00:29:31.480 --> 00:29:33.140 and will do it. 00:29:34.260 --> 00:29:35.060 In fact, 00:29:35.120 --> 00:29:35.660 in a sense, 00:29:36.420 --> 00:29:37.640 God has already 00:29:37.640 --> 00:29:38.400 done it. 00:29:39.560 --> 00:29:40.440 In space, 00:29:40.760 --> 00:29:41.940 in time, 00:29:42.540 --> 00:29:43.300 in history. 00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:46.200 Because what God 00:29:46.200 --> 00:29:47.180 promises to do 00:29:47.180 --> 00:29:48.180 for the whole earth 00:29:48.180 --> 00:29:49.920 is already done 00:29:49.920 --> 00:29:51.360 in Jesus Christ. 00:29:51.359 --> 00:29:53.699 look again 00:29:53.699 --> 00:29:54.359 at verse 1 00:29:54.359 --> 00:29:55.099 of our text. 00:29:55.919 --> 00:29:56.559 There shall come 00:29:56.559 --> 00:29:57.699 forth a shoot 00:29:57.699 --> 00:29:58.939 from the stump 00:29:58.939 --> 00:29:59.779 of Jesse, 00:30:00.139 --> 00:30:01.279 and a branch 00:30:01.279 --> 00:30:02.119 from his roots 00:30:02.119 --> 00:30:03.559 shall bear fruit. 00:30:04.719 --> 00:30:05.419 Isaiah is here 00:30:05.419 --> 00:30:06.439 describing the coming 00:30:06.439 --> 00:30:07.019 of the king. 00:30:07.399 --> 00:30:08.559 That out of the stump 00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:09.439 of the house 00:30:09.439 --> 00:30:09.899 of Jesse, 00:30:09.979 --> 00:30:10.240 that is, 00:30:10.279 --> 00:30:11.159 the royal house 00:30:11.159 --> 00:30:11.659 of David, 00:30:12.819 --> 00:30:13.379 a shoot 00:30:13.379 --> 00:30:14.159 comes forth. 00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:16.220 of course, 00:30:16.220 --> 00:30:16.740 a stump 00:30:16.740 --> 00:30:17.320 isn't a very 00:30:17.320 --> 00:30:18.180 flattering image, 00:30:18.320 --> 00:30:18.720 is it? 00:30:20.840 --> 00:30:22.080 It's cut down, 00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:22.620 right? 00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:24.160 A stump 00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:25.019 is lifeless. 00:30:26.600 --> 00:30:27.580 But Isaiah 00:30:27.580 --> 00:30:28.380 says that new 00:30:28.380 --> 00:30:29.320 life will come 00:30:29.320 --> 00:30:30.860 from that seemingly 00:30:30.860 --> 00:30:32.220 lifeless place. 00:30:32.440 --> 00:30:33.560 Out of the stump, 00:30:33.960 --> 00:30:34.440 a shoot. 00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:36.080 Out of the roots, 00:30:36.340 --> 00:30:37.100 a new branch. 00:30:37.320 --> 00:30:38.200 Out of the old, 00:30:38.680 --> 00:30:39.340 something new. 00:30:39.700 --> 00:30:40.700 Out of death, 00:30:41.519 --> 00:30:41.880 life. 00:30:44.200 --> 00:30:44.640 And notice, 00:30:44.740 --> 00:30:45.539 it's not replacing 00:30:45.539 --> 00:30:46.039 the stump 00:30:46.039 --> 00:30:46.740 with something else. 00:30:46.819 --> 00:30:47.420 God isn't throwing 00:30:47.420 --> 00:30:48.140 it out and starting 00:30:48.140 --> 00:30:48.380 over. 00:30:48.460 --> 00:30:48.740 No, 00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:49.680 from the midst 00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:50.380 of that old, 00:30:50.600 --> 00:30:51.700 fallen down, 00:30:52.180 --> 00:30:53.600 lifeless Davidic line, 00:30:55.080 --> 00:30:55.799 new life 00:30:55.799 --> 00:30:56.840 and new hope 00:30:56.840 --> 00:30:57.319 comes. 00:30:58.200 --> 00:30:59.220 Like a shoot 00:30:59.220 --> 00:31:00.039 springing out 00:31:00.039 --> 00:31:00.600 of a stump. 00:31:03.980 --> 00:31:04.620 And friends, 00:31:04.680 --> 00:31:05.160 doesn't it become 00:31:05.160 --> 00:31:05.559 clear 00:31:05.559 --> 00:31:07.480 that the incarnation 00:31:07.480 --> 00:31:07.980 then, 00:31:09.100 --> 00:31:09.740 which fulfilled 00:31:09.740 --> 00:31:10.220 this verse 00:31:10.220 --> 00:31:11.059 in ways I'm sure 00:31:11.059 --> 00:31:11.920 Isaiah barely 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:12.579 could imagine, 00:31:14.299 --> 00:31:15.240 that the incarnation 00:31:15.240 --> 00:31:16.240 is God 00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:17.059 beginning 00:31:17.059 --> 00:31:18.559 his new creation 00:31:18.559 --> 00:31:19.220 project. 00:31:20.759 --> 00:31:21.779 That in sending 00:31:21.779 --> 00:31:22.400 his son 00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:23.180 to take on 00:31:23.180 --> 00:31:23.700 flesh, 00:31:23.920 --> 00:31:25.039 he was inaugurating 00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:25.519 the renewal 00:31:25.519 --> 00:31:26.220 of creation 00:31:26.220 --> 00:31:27.400 in and through 00:31:27.400 --> 00:31:27.779 him. 00:31:28.180 --> 00:31:28.500 You see, 00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:29.319 when he was born, 00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:30.680 Christ entered 00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:32.319 the fallen down, 00:31:32.660 --> 00:31:33.660 lifeless line 00:31:33.660 --> 00:31:34.160 of David, 00:31:34.259 --> 00:31:35.500 the stump of Jesse, 00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:36.680 and he fulfilled 00:31:36.680 --> 00:31:37.440 all of God's 00:31:37.440 --> 00:31:37.860 promises. 00:31:37.859 --> 00:31:39.779 Jesus restored 00:31:39.779 --> 00:31:40.500 David's throne 00:31:40.500 --> 00:31:41.679 in an unexpected 00:31:41.679 --> 00:31:43.179 and glorious way 00:31:43.179 --> 00:31:44.079 through his death 00:31:44.079 --> 00:31:44.719 and resurrection. 00:31:46.439 --> 00:31:47.139 But you see, 00:31:47.219 --> 00:31:47.799 by entering 00:31:47.799 --> 00:31:48.919 David's line, 00:31:49.219 --> 00:31:50.019 Christ was also 00:31:50.019 --> 00:31:50.500 entering 00:31:50.500 --> 00:31:52.339 our fallen down 00:31:52.339 --> 00:31:52.979 and lifeless 00:31:52.979 --> 00:31:53.719 humanity. 00:31:55.019 --> 00:31:55.719 He didn't just 00:31:55.719 --> 00:31:56.439 become the true 00:31:56.439 --> 00:31:56.859 David, 00:31:57.859 --> 00:31:58.959 but he became 00:31:58.959 --> 00:31:59.619 the new Adam. 00:31:59.619 --> 00:32:04.079 And that means 00:32:04.079 --> 00:32:04.619 that by taking 00:32:04.619 --> 00:32:05.459 on our humanity, 00:32:05.619 --> 00:32:06.339 Christ was taking 00:32:06.339 --> 00:32:07.079 into himself 00:32:07.079 --> 00:32:08.199 the very groaning 00:32:08.199 --> 00:32:09.359 of creation itself. 00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:11.839 That just as Adam 00:32:11.839 --> 00:32:12.799 had led creation 00:32:12.799 --> 00:32:13.539 into ruin, 00:32:14.579 --> 00:32:15.419 that Christ, 00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:16.199 the new Adam, 00:32:16.259 --> 00:32:17.259 would lead creation 00:32:17.259 --> 00:32:18.119 into glory. 00:32:20.339 --> 00:32:20.839 In other words, 00:32:20.879 --> 00:32:21.619 the green shoot 00:32:21.619 --> 00:32:22.519 that came forth 00:32:22.519 --> 00:32:23.199 from the stump 00:32:23.199 --> 00:32:23.679 of Jesse 00:32:23.679 --> 00:32:24.779 had roots 00:32:24.779 --> 00:32:25.959 that went down 00:32:25.959 --> 00:32:26.839 into God's 00:32:26.839 --> 00:32:28.179 cosmic order itself 00:32:28.180 --> 00:32:28.840 so that what God 00:32:28.840 --> 00:32:29.880 did for his son, 00:32:29.960 --> 00:32:30.920 especially in the 00:32:30.920 --> 00:32:31.400 resurrection, 00:32:31.900 --> 00:32:32.660 was a promise 00:32:32.660 --> 00:32:33.440 and demonstration 00:32:33.440 --> 00:32:34.299 of what he would 00:32:34.299 --> 00:32:35.299 do for all 00:32:35.299 --> 00:32:36.180 who trust in him 00:32:36.180 --> 00:32:37.620 and for even 00:32:37.620 --> 00:32:38.500 the created world 00:32:38.500 --> 00:32:39.080 itself. 00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:43.440 This king 00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:44.460 born on 00:32:44.460 --> 00:32:45.200 Christmas day 00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:46.900 is the one 00:32:46.900 --> 00:32:47.620 who brings 00:32:47.620 --> 00:32:49.060 the new creation. 00:32:50.640 --> 00:32:51.340 In his first 00:32:51.340 --> 00:32:51.680 coming, 00:32:51.779 --> 00:32:52.539 he was a shoot 00:32:52.539 --> 00:32:53.500 springing forth 00:32:53.500 --> 00:32:54.140 from the stump 00:32:54.140 --> 00:32:54.779 of our fallen 00:32:54.779 --> 00:32:55.359 humanity 00:32:55.359 --> 00:32:57.440 with a promise 00:32:57.440 --> 00:32:58.180 of new creation 00:32:58.180 --> 00:32:59.160 for all who believe 00:32:59.160 --> 00:33:01.259 and in his second 00:33:01.259 --> 00:33:01.619 coming, 00:33:01.700 --> 00:33:02.539 he will consummate 00:33:02.539 --> 00:33:03.279 that new creation 00:33:03.279 --> 00:33:03.880 work and make 00:33:03.880 --> 00:33:04.819 all things new. 00:33:06.920 --> 00:33:07.240 Do you see 00:33:07.240 --> 00:33:07.799 the magnitude 00:33:07.799 --> 00:33:08.579 now of what 00:33:08.579 --> 00:33:09.819 Christmas means 00:33:09.819 --> 00:33:13.200 in this son 00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:13.980 who was born? 00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:17.740 There it is, 00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:19.359 the very healing 00:33:19.359 --> 00:33:20.180 of creation, 00:33:20.180 --> 00:33:22.180 the end 00:33:22.180 --> 00:33:23.320 of our enmity, 00:33:24.060 --> 00:33:25.519 of our death, 00:33:26.120 --> 00:33:27.500 of our ignorance, 00:33:28.600 --> 00:33:29.660 and the beginning 00:33:29.660 --> 00:33:30.200 of the world 00:33:30.200 --> 00:33:30.680 to come. 00:33:33.340 --> 00:33:34.180 Let's pray, 00:33:34.299 --> 00:33:34.500 friends. 00:33:34.500 --> 00:33:43.279 Lord Jesus, 00:33:43.400 --> 00:33:43.920 we pray 00:33:43.920 --> 00:33:45.859 that you would 00:33:45.859 --> 00:33:47.339 stamp eternity 00:33:47.339 --> 00:33:48.920 onto our eyes 00:33:48.920 --> 00:33:50.440 and you would 00:33:50.440 --> 00:33:51.059 stamp it 00:33:51.059 --> 00:33:51.960 onto our hearts. 00:33:53.240 --> 00:33:53.680 God, 00:33:53.779 --> 00:33:54.200 thank you 00:33:54.200 --> 00:33:54.940 in your grace 00:33:54.940 --> 00:33:55.680 and your mercy 00:33:55.680 --> 00:33:56.619 and in your wisdom 00:33:56.619 --> 00:33:57.279 you tell us 00:33:57.279 --> 00:33:58.559 again and again 00:33:58.559 --> 00:33:59.220 and again 00:33:59.220 --> 00:34:00.539 where you are 00:34:00.539 --> 00:34:01.759 taking us 00:34:01.759 --> 00:34:04.180 through your son 00:34:04.180 --> 00:34:05.380 and by your spirit. 00:34:07.220 --> 00:34:07.660 God, 00:34:07.720 --> 00:34:08.579 help us to live 00:34:08.579 --> 00:34:09.180 in light 00:34:09.180 --> 00:34:10.139 of that great day. 00:34:11.579 --> 00:34:12.720 Help us to love 00:34:12.720 --> 00:34:14.019 and to rejoice 00:34:14.019 --> 00:34:17.000 and Lord, 00:34:17.059 --> 00:34:17.860 even to grow 00:34:17.860 --> 00:34:18.420 in our knowledge 00:34:18.420 --> 00:34:18.840 of you 00:34:18.840 --> 00:34:20.460 for that is where 00:34:20.460 --> 00:34:20.860 Christ, 00:34:20.960 --> 00:34:21.760 you are taking us. 00:34:23.900 --> 00:34:24.340 Lord, 00:34:24.400 --> 00:34:25.019 we ask all this 00:34:25.019 --> 00:34:25.760 in Christ's name. 00:34:26.019 --> 00:34:26.260 Amen.